PURCELLVILLE, Va., July 23 /
Christian Newswire/ --As 4,325 theaters across America earned more than $50 million in ticket sales for "Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince" this weekend, 76 aspiring filmmakers chose to gather in the small town of Purcellville, Virginia, to learn how they can turn Hollywood rightside-up. In a sold-out conference that attendees call life-changing, Advent Film Group (AFG), the company responsible for DVD bestseller, "Come What May," drew filmmakers from across North America to the campus of Patrick Henry College. Due to demand for the workshop and highly positive reviews, AFG has scheduled another presentation of the conference for August 14 and 15, 2009.
"The workshop exceeded my expectations because I saw people's lives genuinely touched," said George Escobar, AFG's founder. "The primary purpose for these workshops is to turn a filmmaker's focus away from one's self and to put it where it belongs – which is to tell stories that reveal God working in people's lives."
Attendees from Ontario, Canada to Southern California confirm Escobar's sentiments, touting the conference's potential for a revolutionary impact. Henry Jernigan, a Christian speaker and comedian with over ten years of radio television and advertising experience said that the conference "established a foundation for future films and filmmakers that will influence countless multitudes for Christ."
Jernigan feels that Escobar and his team give invaluable new insights into the entire filmmaking process, including an innovative business model for micro-budget movies, which is helping fuel a new Christian film movement. "The workshop showed me the details from start to finish – thinking through to distribution, marketing and your next films before you even begin your first film," he said.
But more than filmmaking skills, Jernigan emphasized the spiritual lessons he learned. "One of the things I really liked was the constant emphasis on keeping God in our work."
Another workshop attendee, Kylene Arnold, said that the AFG workshop gave her new clarity into the future of her filmmaking career. "I've been through four years of film school and I had never heard the business side of it," Arnold said, "That [Escobar] included both the technical and business side of things was very helpful."
Advent Film Group's August 14-15 conference will be located within 40 minutes of the Washington-Dulles International Airport. Registration is now open.
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